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Ivo a Trastevere (Via di San Francesco a Ripa 158; +39 06 5817082), a long-established pizzeria, serves inedible pasta dishes and mediocre thin-crust Roman pizzas. But the place is cheap, so it's always packed. While most pies fall flat, the capriciosa, a pizza margherita topped with mushrooms, olives, a single slice of prosciutto, and a runny egg, is excellent. Not only that, it's better than the typical Roman capriciosa, which employs half of a sad, overcooked, hard-boiled egg.

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Among the many legends surrounding Rome is this one: that any visitor can walk into any random trattoria and enjoy a brilliant meal. Maybe this was true in the distant past (or maybe not), but the reality is, plenty of restaurants in the Italian capital serve terrible food made with low-quality, out-of-season, or frozen ingredients. Of course, bad food tastes better on vacation, and restaurants looking to exploit tourists have capitalized on that. But even outside the tourist districts, flawless food is increasingly rare, since many Romans are content to eat terrible food as long as it’s cheap, trendy, or close to home. Amid the duds, though, are one-hit-wonders—worth visiting if you stick to the one thing (and only one thing) they do really, really well.

Ivo a Trastevere (Via di San Francesco a Ripa 158; +39 06 5817082), a long-established pizzeria, serves inedible pasta dishes and mediocre thin-crust Roman pizzas. But the place is cheap, so it's always packed. While most pies fall flat, the capriciosa, a pizza margherita topped with mushrooms, olives, a single slice of prosciutto, and a runny egg, is excellent. Not only that, it's better than the typical Roman capriciosa, which employs half of a sad, overcooked, hard-boiled egg.